I have been traveling the world as a journalist and passionate lover of all things fun for 20 years. I have had weekly columns in USA Today and Investors Business Daily, published thousands of articles in leading magazines from Playboy to Popular Science, and am the author of Getting Into Guinness. I am the Contributing Travel Editor for Cigar Aficionado Magazine, the restaurant columnist for USAToday.com, and am a co-founder of TheAPosition.com, the leading golf travel website. I love every kind of travel, active, cultural and leisurely, and my special areas of expertise are luxury hotels and resorts, golf, skiing, food, wine and spirits. I tweet @TravelFoodGuy

The Best Spirit You've (Probably) Never Tasted: Japan's Shochu

At less than $25 per bottle, Iichiko's Silhouette shochu is a great spirit and well worth seeking out.

The last few years have been good to regional specialties as interest in all things food and travel continues to grow and the world increasingly becomes a smaller place. I recently wrote here at Forbes.com about the booming popularity of Japanese whisky, a topic that has been getting a lot of press. Thanks to the growing popularity of cocktails like caipirinhas, more Americans than ever have tried Brazil’s cachaca, while Peru’s pisco has enjoyed a similar run. So what’s left for the adventurous spirit drinker to try?

Shochu.

Shochu is the national spirit of Japan, and while most Americans’ first free association of alcohol and Japan will be sake, shochu is more popular and has outsold sake in Japan for the past decade. Still, the two have a lot of similarities, and while shochu fans and producers like to remind everyone who will listen that shochu and sake are two very different things, the easiest way to describe the spirit is as a spirit that tastes sort of like sake. Sake is confusing enough, because it is almost always described as rice wine, but it is actually brewed, more like rice beer than rice wine (it also is not usually called sake in Japan, but rather nihonshu or seishu). It has far more alcohol than either wine or beer, usually around 30-35 proof, though still much less than hard liquor.

Shochu on the other hand is a distilled spirit, most akin to vodka in the sense that it is typically clear and can be made from different raw materials, unlike most spirits (bourbon from corn, rum from sugar cane, etc.), and is most often distilled from barley, rice, sweet potatoes, or buckwheat. More than half of all shochu is made from barley, the top choice. The production process is far more complex than vodka’s however, and there are myriad styles of shochu based on whether it is distilled once or multiple times, there is shochu fermented with mold, there are shochus aged in wood, and so on. Shochu is on the weak side for a distilled spirit as far as alcohol, at only about 60 proof, which also makes it easier to drink and much lower in calories (it contains zero sugar and has about a quarter of the calories per ounce of vodka).

I recently tasted samples of two versions from Iichiko, which has been Japan’s best-selling shochu producer for the past 30 years or so (and means “it is good”). Iichiko makes about ten different shochus (four of which are sold in the US), all from barley, and like sake, the difference has a lot to do with the amount each grain is polished before distillation. One of their versions is among the top 25 bestselling spirits in the world, ahead of household named such as Baileys and Ballantines. As you read on, it is important to remember that the flavor of shochu will vary greatly based on what starch it is made from, so if you try a sweet potato version it will likely not taste like the barley ones I had. Also, while I have had shochu in Japan, and more recently at my desk, I have barely scratched the surface and am certainly no expert. However, the ones I just tasted are among the most readily available versions here in the US.

Iichiko's top of the line shochu, Frasco, just won a prestigious award and an unprecedented 94 point ranking.

I tried Iichiko’s entry level Silhouette (around $23), which had a very pronounced sake-like taste, as if it has been made from rice, only stronger and richer. If you like sake you will really like Silhouette, and like sake, it pairs very well with food, which is not common for spirits, though it is one of the hallmarks of shochu. I would recommend it highly, it is something very different to try, something that would be great to serve (and surprise) dinner guests, especially with spicier cuisine, and it is also a great value. Not surpassingly, shochu is very popular in traditional Japanese pubs, or izakaya, where casual dining and drinking go hand in hand.

Iichiko Frasco ($70) is the company’s top of the line ultra-premium, Shochu, and it was recently awarded the Chairman’s Trophy at the 2013 Ultimate Spirits Challenge, founded by F. Paul Pacult, arguably the nation’s top spirits authority. The Frasco scored 94 points, the highest of any shochu, and it was the first time a shochu has ever taken the trophy. Personally I liked the Silhouette better because it really has a pronounced taste, whereas the most used word by critics describing the Frasco is “smoothness.” It is very smooth, a trait highly regarded in the world of shochu, but (to me) not as deep or interesting as the Silhouette. In addition to pairing very well with food, shochu is highly versatile and routinely consumed neat, on the rocks, or mixed with hot or cold water. It also goes into a lot of fruit based cocktails and even tea.

If you are someone who is always looking forward to trying new things, give it a whirl. If you have trouble finding it at the liquor store, you might have more success in better Japanese restaurants.

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It’s more a southern Japan thing. I live in Fukui, where sake’ is king. I think the prefecture only has one locally produced shochu, made from buckwheat (and the buckwheat is probably imported from Canada).

Once you get to like the various shochus out there, it’s nice to go take an awamori tour of the Ryukyus/Okinawa.